


New Habits

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1952535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-The Christmas Invasion. Rose has a question about what exactly happened on Satellite Five.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Habits

Rose’s head droops heavily against the Doctor’s shoulder. She sends him a smile and then yawns, eyelids fluttering shut before opening again.

He glances around the flat. The smell of turkey hangs in the air and the kitchen table is still awash in food and dishes. Jackie has stumbled off to bed and Mickey left ages ago. It’s just the two of them, then.

The word “domestic” momentarily flits through his mind, but he pushes it away. That’ll be something to think about later.

Rose’s breath is warm against his neck. He stays as still as he can, barely even breathing, listening to the steady _thump thump_ of her heart. The moment stretches on, and it’s only when Rose twitches that he realizes she’s still awake.

“You can go to bed, you know,” he says. “I won’t be offended.”

She shakes her head and grips his arm. “‘M not tired,” she says unconvincingly.

“Right,” he says. He considers dragging her off to bed anyway, but he’s afraid to break the moment. Right now, Rose accepts that it’s still him—still the Doctor—and that’s good. That’s very, very good.

Rose’s voice startles him. “I thought I’d lost you.” She clears her throat and adds, “Suppose I did, in a way.”

He tenses. “That’s not—”

Rose continues. “You smell different,” she blurts, and then blushes, lifting her head. “I dunno how or why… you just do, is all.”

His shoulder tingles where her head rested. “I see.” He scratches his ear. “In, um… in a bad way?”

He knows he sounds plaintive, but this feels like the only thing in the universe that matters. He can’t think about getting into the TARDIS without her. No, no, no. He has to convince her that they’ll adjust, that it might not ever be exactly the same as before, but that’s good. That’s what life is about, isn’t it? Humans accept and move on to the next adventure. That’s why he likes them so much.

Rose shifts, cuddling up to his side again. She smiles apologetically. “Different,” she says, “but definitely not bad different.” She wrinkles her nose and breathes in. “Reminds me a bit of the TARDIS.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she says. “Like… like that old storage room? The one next to the kitchen.”

He stares at her. “I smell like a storage room?”

Rose worries her bottom lip, looking nervous. She shrugs. “A bit, yeah.”

He figures it could be worse. She could have said “dirty laundry” or “Slitheen” or “the loos” or “a baboon’s bottom.” Honestly, “storage room” is almost positively… positive.

Rose turns her gaze up to him hopefully. “I like it,” she says.

He grins at her. He can’t seem to stop. Grinning at Rose. It’s like how tea without two teaspoons of sugar isn’t tea at all. No day is a proper day without grinning at Rose.

Rose takes a deep breath. “Doctor,” she begins. “What happened, exactly, on Satellite 5?”

His grin slips. “What do you mean?”

Rose hesitates and then moves back to the other side of the couch. He can tell she’s been thinking about this for hours. She crosses her arms restlessly over her chest and speaks to the floor.

“Why can’t I remember what happened? It’s like… I know I was in the TARIDS, and there was this white light… and it was beautiful. Next thing I know, you’re regenerating. I can’t remember anything else.”

She glances at him, her eyes full of trust. He shifts uncomfortably. “You saved me.”

Rose nods. “‘Cause I brought the TARDIS back.”

“No,” he says. “No, Rose. You defeated the Daleks. You absorbed the Time Vortex and you used it to turn them to dust. You saved me. You saved everyone.”

Rose’s eyes widen. “I killed them?”

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

She takes that in, her eyes becoming more worried. “Are you saying that I…” she falters and then pushes on, “that I wiped out an entire species?”

He gets a vivid image of what she looked like—bathed in a white light, bringing an end to the Daleks with a wave of her hand. “ _You are tiny.”_

“You and the TARDIS. Rose—” he struggles and their eyes lock. He feels a shared understanding pass through them, and he rushes to say, “No, Rose. It’s not like you’re thinking. It wasn’t like what happened on my planet. You… you saved lives. I…”

“I understand,” Rose says quickly, picking up on his tone. She moves closer to him again, folded knees touching his legs. “I wish I could remember.”

He meets her gaze. “Maybe you will,” he says, “one day.”

But he hopes that she won’t. Having that much power, turning another species to dust—that won’t go away. It would stay with her forever.

Rose holds his eyes, and her tongue flicks out to lick her lips. They stare at each other. Her hands twitch nervously against her knees.

The room suddenly feels much warmer. He swallows hard, feeling awkward and uncertain. _That’s_ not a feeling he’s used to. It seems so trivial, so human. This is Rose, and he’s spent hours—no, days, in her company, and just her company.

“Doctor?” she begins, her voice sounding breathless.

He mumbles something that he hopes is a, “Hmm?”

“How’d I get rid of it? The… Time Vortex stuff.”

He breaks their gaze and he senses Rose flinch in surprise. He jumps to his feet, raking a hand through his hair.

“It’s getting late, isn’t it? We have universes out there waiting for us. And it has been one hell of a day.”

“But—” Rose begins.

“I’ll be in the TARDIS. She needs some repairs before we can get going— _well_ , I say repairs, more like some tinkering. Some fluid changes and maybe a new time rotor—”

Rose raises her voice. “ _Doctor_!” She looks startled at her tone and then she whips her head around to check on Jackie’s bedroom. The door stays closed.

They both sag in relief. He drops his voice. “What is it?”

She opens her mouth and then closes it. She hesitates and then says, “I reckon I better stay here tonight. You know how Mum can get. You’ll still be here in the morning?”

He feels a flood of relief. “Oh, yes.”

He goes back to grinning at her. She responds by grinning back at him. Brilliant new habit, that one.

Finally, he gestures behind him. “I better get her sorted. We have places to go.”

“Yeah,” Rose says. Then she shakes her head, smile brightening. “I can’t wait.”


End file.
